The Lion Guard
by Solaire-Guardian-of-Astora
Summary: Delric Hawksmith is a Breton Lionguard, a protector of the King. After a cataclysmic event, he finds himself taken captive by Imperials. After escaping, Delric finds all of Tamriel to be plunged into chaos as Molag Bal unleashes his Dark Anchors on Tamriel once more. Follow Delric in his adventures, as he travels through Tamriel on a quest to discover himself. Features my own OC's
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note:**

This is in no way my views on the current KoH vs EoT war, or any subsequent wars. This is not my views on nords, or any other Elder Scroll race. The Elder Scrolls is owned by Bethesda studios. Names of characters belong to their original creators. I only own the main character, and a few other OCs. This is an entire work of fiction.

_**If you see spelling or grammar mistakes, or if things just don't make sense please contact me. **_

**Chapter 1: Ebonheart **

Rain landed softly on Delric's cape. The rhythmic pitter patter used to calm him when he was a child, looking outside his parent's house in Shornhelm, an area prone to deep rain. He gripped his sword, a steel blade that was long enough to be used for offense as well as defense, but was short enough for it to be held in one hand. He twisted the sword in his hands, admiring the Breton craftsmanship as he heard the screams of war. Rolling his shoulder in anticipation, Delric looked to his side as he marched along with some of the remaining High Rock forces.

The battle had been going on for hours at this point and the assault on the Imperial stronghold was just about lost. High Rock had lost most of it's troops in the first wave, proving no match for the Nordic and Imperial forces working together, slaughtering the High Rock and Hammerfell legions before they even had a chance to put up a fight. Those who had survived the first wave rallied together and attacked again, resulting in the same lost. Now the survivors began to rally again, at the entrance of the fort in attempts to breach the Imperials and Nords and make landfall within the stronghold, where they would have better luck fighting in the tight corners. Delric sheathed his sword, and continued to march, stepping over bodies of Bretons, Nords, Redguards, and Imperials a like. The battle had been bloody, and both sides had lost a lot of men in the first and second wave. Arrows from the Imperials who had been perched on the battlements littered the ground. Swords, axes, and maces laid in the mud, their owners next to them, lying still. Delric was not used to war, his face contorted as he stepped over a mangled arm, his position did not throw him into the face of death often.

He was a Lion Guard, a protector of the king. Most times, this simply meant that he had to follow the king to multiple political events, fend off a few angered Khajiits, and maybe a lusty Argonian. Very rarely did Delric have to get his sword bloodied. However times had changed. The Imperials had begun taking over Skyrim, killing the previous king and emplacing their own. Since then, the Empire had begun expanding its influence, taking over Morrowind and Black Marsh, both nations providing small uprisings that were extinguished just as fast as they started. From there the Empire marched, edging into the sovereign nation of Hammerfell, home to the Redguards. However Hammerfell did not bend over like the other nations. Lead by King Cyrus and Prince A'tor, the Redguards retaliated. They attacked the Imperials, driving them out of Hammerfell and chased them into Cyrodiil. Battles were exchanged, and soon a full blown war erupted, with Hammerfell attacking Imperial strongholds all over Tamriel, including Skyrim outposts and Black Marsh forts. Rebellions began, and with the support of Hammerfell they grew stronger. The Empire was beginning to fall, and with that desperation began to mount. The empire refused to lose it grip, and using their powerful fleets they began to blockade coastal nations such as Summerset and High Rock, forcing these nations to go into a famine.

Months later, any ship that was seen out in the waters by Imperial ships were attacked, no matter the nation. High Rock was forced to get most of its imports out of Hammerfell only, causing widespread famine as Hammerfell was not able to provide enough food for the whole province. Soon, the Empire began to invade High Rock, entering in from the Skyrim border. This forced King Vincent to act, mobilizing the High Rock army in efforts to fend off the Empire. Now allied with High Rock, Hammerfell continued it's war with renewed vigor, attacking key Imperial positions and strongholds, forcing them to retreat back into Cyrodiil. All these key moments now lead up to now, the invasion of Ebonheart, one of the Empires biggest strongholds outside of Cyrodiil.

Shouts brought Delric's attention back from his wandering. He looked around to see that men were starting to run backwards, towards the ships that had delivered the raiding party to shore. Confused Delric began to move forward, brushing the running men aside as he continued to move and see what in Akatosh's name was occurring. As he got closer to the front of the battalion, his eyes narrowed. In front of him was a wall of Imperials and Nords. The Imperials stood back, knotting arrows and firing on the crowd as Bretons and Redguards engaged in tense sword fighting with the Nords. Looking up to the sky and praying to multiple Divines, Delric unsheathed his sword and turned towards the running Bretons, grabbing a young man by the arm. The Breton turned around, his helmet barely fitting on his head as his hands shook in fear.

"Listen to me" Delric told the boy, as he took the boy's sword and placed it in the Bretons shaking hands.

"Your family needs you. Your province needs you" Delric told the boy, trying to raise his voice above the shouting of the war around them. Delric raised his sword and turned towards the battle. Even though Delric was never a front line soldier, this battle was for the liberation of High Rock. He refused to stand back and let the Empire walk over him.

"FOR THE PROVINCE" He yelled, turning to the boy and signaling him to follow. They both jumped from the small elevated hill they were on, landing right into the middle of the fray. Delric gripped his sword with two hands, moving calmly towards the entrance of Ebonheart, swinging only when necessary. Although he had never seen war, he was a very skilled sword fighter and spell caster. He had trained with some of the best spell swords in Tamriel, learning proper footing and hand placement, along with other techniques.

As he remembered his training, A nordic man raced up to him, war axe raised and spittle flying from his mouth. Delric, not intimidated by the Nords brutish fighting style, raised his sword and bended his knees, anticipating the incoming strike. The brute brought his axe down on the Hawksmith, however the nimble Breton side stepped the swing and then spun back around to face the Nord as he tumbled into the bloodied ground. Delric, not allowing his opponent to get back up, raised his sword and brought it down on the Nords neck, cutting off the airflow and effectively slicing through his trachea. He then ripped his sword out of the Nords neck, wiping the blood on the back of the dead Nord and then sheathing the sword again. The whole encounter took only a few seconds, his efficiency surprising even him.

After another 15 minutes of fighting, Delrich had made it to the entrance of Ebonheart. Grabbing a shield that had belonged to a long dead nord, He hoisted it in front of him. He and a few other Hammerfell and High Rock troops had situated themselves in a trench merely a few miles from the entrance to the Imperial Stronghold. They had positioned multiple shields and other debris on top of each other, preventing the continued barrage of arrows from penetrating them. Delric looked around, noticing most of the men before him were fairly young, most of them farmers who had been conscripted into their countries army. This was probably the first time they had seen war, the first time they had seen men die in front of them. Some of them looked frightened, others angered, and a few with no emotion at all.

"So, you've made it this far" Delric started, as he looked to every single man in the trench with him. There were about only 15 men , not enough to charge and take the stronghold, however he wasn't about to be taken captive by the imperials and then executed in Cyrodiil. He was going to die an honorable death, buried with his fellow brothers. Gripping his sword, and grabbing the handle of his shield Delric began to stand out of the trench.

"Today, we fight for our Brothers, our sisters, our Mothers, and our Fathers" Delric shouted as he looked at the Imperial stronghold. He noticed as archers began to knot their arrows, but did not fire upon him

"Today we fight, for the children that have died with no food for them to eat. Today we fight for our independance!" Delric shouted, turning back to the 15 young men, as they all started to stand up, gaining their own courage.

"Today, we fight, not for honor, not for pleasure. Today we fight to be Free!" Delric shouted, bringing his sword up as he jumped out of trench, holding his shield over his head as he charged the gates. The other men quickly followed suit, yelling their own chants as they too jumped out of the trenches and towards the entrance. The imperials began to rain down their arrows, but the shields provided ample cover as the small battalion quickly closed the gap between them and Ebonheart.

Delric's heart raced. He was the leading the charge against the fortress, arrows whizzed by him, impaling the ground and sending up dirt next him. He could see the entrance now, the gates were opened, with multiple Imperial archers positioned right outside with their arrows knotted about to fire. Delric kept running, holding out his shield in front of him, anticipating the arrow barrage. Then suddenly, Delric felt the ground give way as a large shockwave hit him, throwing him back a few feet. Now on his back he looked up to see a large chain protruding from Ebonheart and leading back into the sky. The entire stronghold had been thrown into a craze. fires burned as Imperials and Bretons alike ran from the fortress, looks of terror on their faces. Delric struggled to get up, but fell back down as he felt a sharp pain near his ribcage. Mustering up enough strength, he pushed himself into a sitting position. He watched as a purple large circular object descended out of the heavens, creating a portal in the sky, lightning sparking all around the foreign object. Out of the portal fell winged demons and knights in darkened armor, holding swords with red tints. The knights and demons fell into the fortress, slaughtering the Imperial soldiers like butter, the their arrows and steel doing nothing but to taunt the demons.

Delric had never seen such a monstrosity before. He recounted the sudden event in detail, a large "anchor" had appeared above the fortress, killing most of the men inside. Out of that anchor spawned multiple demons, slaughtering the remaining soldiers. Not even in the stories elders told children did they come close to what Delric was witnessing with his own eyes.

"You there! Can you walk?" Surprised, Delric turned around to see a Redguard,his curved sword on his hip as he ran over to him. Placing his hand on Delric's shoulder, he looked him up and down.

"You're not a Nord or an Imperial, and by your garbs you don't seem to be an Imperial sympathiser." The Redguard said. Delric noticed that the Redguard seemed to have been in his middle age, scars covered the Redguards brownish face.

"The name's Delric" He claimed as he attempted to stand yet again, but yelped in pain instead.

"Nice to meet you Delric. Name's Akorithi, Prince of Hammerfell" The Redguard stated, removing a vial from his pouch. Twisting the top of the vial, he handed it to the Breton, nodding for him to drink it. Delric took the vial, gingerly smelling the top before drinking it's contents. Gagging, Delric looked up to Akorithi with a sickening look, until he felt the pain from his ribs subside. Now fully healed, Akorithi offered him his gloved hand, which Delric took with great him up, they both looked at the large Anchor in the sky, as more nightmarish creatures, worse than the next continued to pour out of it

"And here I thought, I was going to die a boring death surrounded by Redguard woman" Akorithi sighed, removing his curved sword from his belt. Chuckling, Delric followed the Redguard into the tree line behind them, heading back towards the way they came.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note:**

**Hey, thanks for reading! This is one of my first fan fictions, and I plan on writing it as a trilogy. Please leave a review, as it would really help me improve my writing skill.**

Delric plunged his sword through the chest of the Darkened beast, the Breton steel going straight through it's chest cavity. The monster gave a muffled screech, grabbing Delric by the throat with it's clawed hand. Gasping for air Delric kneed the beast in the chest, however the monstrosity did not relent, tightening it's grip around his throat. An arrow whizzed by Delric's head, plunging itself into the skull of the demon. The sudden event caused the demon to loosen it's grip on Delric's throat, reaching for it's damaged eye in reflex. Using this new advantage Delric ripped the sword out of the Demon's chest and severed it's arm. Gasping for air and feeling his neck, he took a step back, planting his feet down firm and getting into a position to engage the Demon again.

"These things are hard to kill" Delric yelled out, as the beast also got into an attack position, pointing it's sword straight at him.

"These 'things' are Daedra my boy. Spawns from the plains of oblivion" Akorithi, the Redguard Prince yelled. The Redguard stood a bit behind Delric, using a stolen imperial bow to take down Daedra from afar while Delric fought them up close. Delric turned back to the Daedra as it began to charge at him, wielding it's sword in a fairly barbaric manner. The Daedra quickly shorten the distance between it and Delric, bringing it's sword down directly over him. Delric rolled to the left, leaving it's large blade in the grass where he had just previously been. Scrambling back to his feet, Delric spun to face the Demon as it attempted to pull it's sword out of the ground. Taking the opportunity, he performed his own charge on the Daedra, severing it's other arm, and then slicing it's head off. The now headless Daedra fell to the ground, dissolving into purplish dust afterward. Hefting up the sword the beast left behind, Delric examined it, noticing the extremely brutish nature of the weapon.

"What in Akatosh's name do they want then? If they're from the plains of Oblivion?" Delric asked, looking at the Redguard as he sheathed his sword.

"No clue." Akorithi answered bluntly, slinging his bow onto his back. "We should get going, for all we know the Hammerfell fleets could have taken off without us" Dropping the sword on the ground, Delric gave the Redguard a quizzical look.

"Wait, are you not the commander of the Navy?" Delric asked. "Why would they leave their own General behind?"

"And why would the King leave his own Lion Guard behind?" The Redguard replied, silencing Breton as the began walking towards what they believed to be the coast of the Stronghold.

After a bit of walking, the two were nearing the shore when they heard shouts. I unsheathing his sword, Delric turned to see a couple of Imperials running towards them, swords unsheathed and waving.

"Lay down your arms!" one of the imperials shouted.

"Oh for the love of Stendarr, don't these idiots see the giant portal in the sky?" Delric asked, holding his sword out. Although His sword had been dented due to fighting the previous Daedra, it was still sharp enough to cut Imperial armor. Spreading his feet out, Delric prepared to strike down those who came a bit too close.

"No way in hell I'm being taken back to Cyrodiil" Akorithi agreed, unslinging his bow and knotting it, preparing to fire a barrage on the imperials while Delric dealt with them upfront. Hearing a slight rustle in the leaves behind him, Delric turned his head a bit to see a glint of silver behind him. Before he could do anything, he felt a sword brush against the back of his throat.

"I'd suggest you drop those" A female voice behind them said. Gripping his sword, but now staring straight ahead towards the Imperials Delric asked

"And what would happen if we don't?"

"Well, then you get shot by about 12 archers behind me, assuming I don't cleave your head off" She said, her voice fairly nonchalant in the threat.

Looking to his side, he noticed that Akorithi had dropped his bow. Having no other choice, Delric followed his lead, sheathing his sword, and unbuckling his belt. The belt fell to the ground, his potions and knives clattering to the ground along with it. He continued to look forward, as his arms became bounded chained together with cuffs, as the other Imperials from before finally caught up.

"Thanks Legate, we needed the help back there" The Imperial leading the group said, sheathing his own sword.

"Well of course I had to, you idiots would've been castrated if I had not." The female Legate claimed, stepping out from the shadows behind Delric and Akorithi, sheathing her sword onto her hip.

As she walked in front of the two prisoners, Delric was able to discern that the Legate was indeed a female. She was tall in stature, and was fairly muscular for a female. Her hair was of a golden color, placed in a knotted bun behind her head. The color easily distinguished her as the mixed child of both a Nord and Imperial, not a surprising sight due to the mass amounts of imperials being placed into Skyrim during the coup d'etat of the provinces previous King. The Legate had a scar going across her chin, although not necessarily deep, it showed that she had been in many battles before. On her side was the sword that she had sheathed before, an Imperial sword known as a Gladius. It was maneuvered typically with one hand, as many short swords would, however strangely she had multiple strings attached to the handle of her sword, each one a different shade of green.

"Now, if you idiots have done enough staring" She said as she tightened and checked the bounds on both Delric's and Akorithi's cuffs "Load these two men onto the ship, and do not delay". The imperial soldiers, after sheathing their swords walked up to both Delric and Akorithi, grabbing them by the arms and hoisting them up from their kneeled positions. The Imperial that had grabbed Delric had been the one who had initially yelled at them before. He was a short man, shorter than Delric, who was of an average height for a Breton. The Imperial was also very skinny, and lacked any if all muscle, making him look more like a Nordic druager than an Imperial soldier. Delric knew that he could most likely take this Imperial out in mere seconds, but what worried him was the 3 other imperials walking next to Akorithi and him. They would be sure to strike them both down, making the escape effort thoughts of escape were suddenly interrupted when he heard a large roar, that sounded to belong to some type of large creature. He looked up as the other Imperial soldiers unsheathed their weapons.

"What in the hell was that?" The Imperial next to Delric said, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull

"It was nothing, keep moving to the ship" The Legate ordered, as she motioned for two archers to go back and check out the bizarre sound. The archers nodded, unslinging their bows and moving back towards the blood curdling sound. Most of the imperials began to continue moving, however Akorithi had stopped dead in his tracks, his head low as he began participating in some sort of prayer. The legate opened her mouth, about to issue an order when the ground below them opened upwards, sending everyone flying backwards. Landing roughly on his back, Delric rolled to the right, shielding his face with his cuffed hands as dirt landed on top of him. Putting his hands down, the Breton looked up in shock as a large winged demon flew over head. The beast had the look of a dragon, however it sported four wings instead of the average two. It's body was of a humanoid origin, having two stalwart legs, and two arms that were of a dark gray scale nature. The beast landed, roaring as it did. Suddenly, it lunged at one of the imperials on the ground, grabbing him in it's hand the beast let out a roar. In doing so, the Imperial man screamed, his gladius dropping from his hands, and landing a down on the mud coated ground. The beast let out another roar, crushing the Imperial. The action instantly killing him, as blood seeped down to the ground like water from the beasts hands. Disturbed, Delric attempted to get up from his position, refusing to die in this nightmare. Praying to each divine, He began sprinting away from his previous location, jumping over bodies of the damned.

Screams filled Delric's ears and mind as he ran through the forest, their cries quickly being cut with each roar that accompanied them. As the minutes passed, the screams decreased, as men were ripped apart by the flying Daedra. Praying for the poor souls, Delric continued to run, beads of sweat flowing down from his face as he exerted himself to his limit. His vision began to falter, as he felt himself give up inside. Tripping over a branch, he placed his cuffed hands in front of him, forcing them to take the brunt of his fall. Now coated in mud, he attempted to get up when he heard the same loud roar that would later begin to haunt his nightmares. Still in fear, he slowly cocked his head up to see the that same Daedra who had ripped countless men apart, had landed in front of him, however it's back was faced towards him. Thanking Akatosh for his new found luck, he slowly brought himself up. Looking in front of the Daedra, he could see that a woman was in front of the beast, her long hair golden. Looking closer, Delric was surprised to see that it was the Imperial Legate who had placed the cuffs on him.

The Imperial was now holding onto an imperial shield, holding it in a defensive manner on her front. In her other hand, she had her Gladius, now coated in blood. Standing in front of the Daedra, she did not give off the sense of feeling intimidated by the beast that towered over her. Her face was calm as she fixed the spacing of her feet. She positioned her shield at an angle to deflect any frontal blows, and then taunted the beast to attack, yelling a few explicits that Delric was too far away to hear. The Daedra, having fallen for these taunts, lunged, swinging it's clawed hands towards the Imperial. However she was quick on her feet, rolling to the left and avoiding the attack. The Legate got back on her feet, hefted her shield up and charged at the Daedra, taking a few swipes at the beast as she jumped onto it's arm and began running up straight for it's head. The Daedra, now noticing the danger it was in, quickly made a swinging motion with it's arm, causing the Imperial to lose her footing. Plunging her sword into the Daedra's arm, her shield flew from her hand and she grabbed hold to her Gladius for dear life.

Cursing, Delric looked at his cuffed hands. He would be no use dead, however if he could just break his chains, he could cast some sort of spell to turn the battle. Looking around, his eyes fell on a large boulder, that with enough effort would be able to break his chains. Running up to it, he noticed a pair of red glowing eyes out in the wilderness. Ignoring them, he began to bang his chains against the boulder, praying to every divine he knew for his cuffs to break. Looking back, he saw that the Imperial had dislodged her sword, and was now on the ground, rolling out of the way from as the Demon slammed it's fist on the ground, sending a shockwave that even Delric felt. He watched as she rolled behind the Daedra, shoving her sword into it's back. The Daedra thrashed, wiping it's fists at the ground as it began to beat all of it's wings. The Imperial, now without a sword or shield, dashed out of the way, and continued running as the beast turned towards her, it's eyes filled with rage. To His surprise, he noticed that the Imperial was running towards him, her sword still no where to be seen. Delric stopped his his futile attempt at breaking his chains as the Imperial came to a brisk jog in front of him, grabbing his arm and ushering him to run with her. Reluctantly obeying, he ran behind her, his breaths coming in short gasps, only to quicken in pace as he heard the loud roar of the Daedra behind him. Looking back, he noticed that the beast was tearing the forest apart, inspecting the beast further, he observed that one of it's wings had a large gash. Looking back to the Imperial, he noticed that she was holding a match in one hand, and a sad attempt at a fire spell in the other.

"Concentrate" Delric yelled, as he attempted to run next to her, raising his chained hand to protect his face as a large branch crashed down next to them.

"And what do you think I'm doing? Twiddling my thumbs!?" She yelled back, continuing to attempt a fire spell, but having it sputter and then die at each go.

"Just…just clear your mind of everything and everyone, let it the flame flow through you" Delric replied, looking behind them to see that the Daedra was closing in on them, it's mouth opened as it prepared to lunge and eat them both in one go. Shaking his head, he looked back to the Imperial to see that she had closed her eyes, and was starting to slow down. Cursing, he began to slow down as well, hoping with every ounce in his body that Daedra didn't like the taste of Breton.

"I… I've got it!" The Legate cried, as a ball of fire appeared in her hand.

"Great… So uhm, how is that going to help us in this situation?" Delric asked as the Daedra was practically on top of them, uprooting trees as it closed the short distance.

"You may want to get back.." The Legate said, casting the torrent of flames on the ground in front of them. The foliage caught fire, and soon after he could hear the shattering of glass and explosions.

"Run." The Imperial yelled, turning around as the whole area began to explode in flames. Delric followed suit, jumping over a log and running after her.

"What in Akatosh's name was that?" Delric yelled, his heart beating at nearly unhealthy measures.

"Just some of Ebonheart's other defenses" She called out, slowing her pace and looking back. Gasping for air, Delric slowed himself as well, turning back around to see that the majority of the area they were just in was engulfed in flames. The beast was nowhere to be seen, and Delric hoped it stayed like that. Turning back to the Legate, catching a look at her. Her golden hair was slightly burnt, and had a new scar across her face.

"So… think we can finally get off this god forsaken Stronghold?" Delric asked, turning around to see the coastline along with multiple Imperial ships.

"I guess you could say that" The Legate said, grabbing his shoulder and leading him onto the shore, calling to a few Imperials as she did.


End file.
